Well that, as they say, is that. There were no final day heroics. There was no happy ending. I guess the doom mongers were right after all. That bloody pitch, and some excellent bowling from India, simply got the better of us. Buggar.
I’m afraid I wasn’t able to watch our hasty demise this morning – I set the alarm clock for the afternoon session and it was all over by the time I tuned in – but I’m disappointed with the way we capitulated so readily. After fighting hard on days three and four I expected better.
The toss, of course, was important but not as crucial as I’d initially feared. When the experts said it would turn square by lunch on day two, I thought we were basically screwed. It didn’t seem fair. However, because the pitch actually held together better than expected, England might survived longer if we’d batted better in the first innings. Whether that would have been enough to impact the result, I guess we’ll never know. It was always going to be tough for the poor sods batting last.
Now the teams move on to Mohali, where conditions might be slightly different. We’ve heard that it’s cooler up north, and that the pitch might suit the seamers a little more, so this is where we’ll have to mount our fightback. Team changes looks inevitable (more about that later). Woakes simply must come back into the side.
The problem is that India have a couple of rather useful seamers themselves. This, above everything else, is what has impressed me most about the hosts. In the past India have always had good batsmen and quality spinners, but seam bowling has been their achilles heel. Sure they’ve had the odd good fast bowler – I used to really like Javagal Srinath, and before that Kapil Dev was obviously very good – but they’ve never really had the pacemen to compete on every surface. I think this might finally be changing. Shami is a very good bowler and Yadav has his moments too.
Consequently, whatever the conditions are like in Mohali, I still think India will be strong favourites. England competed at times in this game but were basically out gunned in all departments. I imagine we’ll need to win the toss (or get rid of Kohli early on if we field first) and then try to wrestle back some initiative.
England need to think very seriously about the balance of their team. What XI would you pick? Personally I think the selectors have made a massive error in judgement by retaining Ballance for India and failing to take another specialist batsman on the trip. With Duckett out of sorts it’s ridiculous that Buttler is the only alternative available.
Although Jos is very talented, he’s only played one or two first class matches since being dropped in the Ashes, and he hasn’t improved his technique since. I don’t think he would’ve scored a run at Vizag judging by what happened to other eye players with dubious foot movement like Duckett.
People who want Buttler in the side, and there seem to be plenty of them, forget that of the eighteen regular keepers in county cricket, Jos’ average of 32 is the sixth worst. That means there are 12 keepers in first class cricket with a better 1st class batting record than him. And yet he’s the guy the selectors think can rescue our middle-order? Forgive me for being skeptical.
The history of test cricket is littered with hugely talented players who simply couldn’t make the step up. We need only look as far as Graeme Hick and Mark Ramprakash (players who were supremely gifted and actually had the first class stats to match) to know that pure talent doesn’t guarantee success at test level. Technique, and mental strength, count for just as much if not more than the ability to blast bowling everywhere in one-day cricket.
I’m not saying that Jos Buttler cannot be successful in test cricket, I just think the odds are probably against it. If England do pick him for the next test – if only because our selectors have failed to give the management another viable option – then it would basically be a punt, based on hope rather then expectation or anything tangible.
Meanwhile, Ian Bell is currently preparing for the Big Bash. Surely it would have made sense to recall Bell (who averaged 39 the last time we toured India, and 38 in India overall) as a stopgap rather than exposing Duckett, Buttler and Ballance to these incredibly testing conditions. Poor Duckett hasn’t even had the chance to face any seam bowling yet. Had he made his debut at home, we might have seen better results.
Duckett, of course, is the player most vulnerable before Mohali. I really don’t know what I’d do if I was Bayliss. On the one hand Duckett is probably the most naturally gifted player in domestic cricket – the first batsman ever to win the PCA player of the year and young player of the year at the same time – and he needs time to learn and adapt. However, on the other hand he looks completely frazzled. Maybe it would be best in the long run to take him out of the firing line. We did the same with Joe Root during the Ashes whitewash and it worked out ok.
The other player who might not make the cut in Mohali is Zafar Ansari. He didn’t take a single wicket at Vizag (Cook didn’t even ask him to bowl in the second innings) and only made 4 runs in total. Zafar is a good young cricketer, with a good head on his shoulders, but if the wicket is going to favour fast bowling then there’s no logic in retaining him.
I’d be interested to know what other people would do. Would you simply replace Ansari with Woakes, and allow Duckett to keep learning on the job, or would you make two changes and pick Buttler as well. And if you’re a Jos man, would you pick him as a number four batsman, or move Bairstow up the order instead and hand Jos the gloves at seven?
What’s more, if you don’t have faith in Buttler, but you think it’s time to give Duckett a break, is there a case for picking both Woakes and Jake Ball (or even Steve Finn). This might create a rather odd looking team on paper, with bowlers coming out of our ears, but you could argue that Woakes is more likely to score runs than Buttler anyway. After all, he has a significantly better first class batting average than Jos, and has scored more than twice as many first class hundreds.
We could move everyone else up a spot, draft in Woakes to bolster the middle-order, and play Ball as a fourth specialist seamer. The team would therefore look like this: Cook, Hameed, Root, Moeen, Stokes, Bairstow, Woakes, Rashid, Broad, Ball, Anderson. It’s a thought anyway.
James Morgan
I have to say, it wasn’t a good test match pitch. No turn until day 5, but erratic bounce from day 2 onwards does not make for a good contest.
I’m no Michael Vaughan fan but In see that he is advocating sending for Sam Billings. Not the daftest shout in the world ad then we could take Duckett out of the firing line and replace Ansari with Woakes to give the following:
Cook
Hameed
Root
Billings
Moin
Stokes
Bairstow
Woakes
Rashid
Board (if fit)
Anderson
Sam Billings is a good prospect but we need someone with experience at 4. I trust that Sam is in no way contracted to Michael Vaughan.
He isn’t, as far as I (just a normal Kent supporter) know, linked to Vaughan.
The team you have suggested in the end is fine by me. England need 4 pacers, so that they don’t get burnt out. Maybe Finn in place of Ball otherwise everything is fine.
And if Broad is not fit then replace him with Buttler. Anderson, woakes, stokes & Finn should be enough along with Rasheed & Moeen.
Cook
HH
Root
Bairstow
Ali
Stokes
Buttler
Woakes
Rashid
Ball
Anderson
Although I’d be radical and draft a new middle order batsmen in. Hales or Bell preferably
You can’t win a test with 9 men. Duckett & Ansari are contributing nothing.
Twice we had India 30/2 and twice Ansari came on to bowl to Kohli. He must have thought it was christmas.
That would be my first choice as long as Bairstow is happy to be relieved of the gloves.
Good analysis as ever James. Buttler in for Duckett simply because, as you say, the only other option is Ballance, who is basically unselectable. Shambles. I’m assuming Broad isn’t going to play in Mohali, and I expect Kohli’s dad is a better spinner than Ansari, so he has to go too.
Cook, Hameed, Root, Bairstow, Moeen, Stokes, Buttler, Woakes, Rashid, Ball, Anderson
If it looks like more of a turner than expected, Batty for Ball (which is actually quite a good description of Kohli facing Ansari…)
I would agree that Ballance would be unselectable given access to all those bats qualified for England, such as Bell and Billings. However, assuming the selectors will only choose from those in the squad – and that they will not just draft Woakes for Duckett – the choice is Ballance, Duckett or Buttler. Duckett looks less selectable than Ballance after the last test. Ballance at least has some technique to spin whereas Duckett has a more specific and exploitable technical problem. So it becomes a choice of Buttler or Ballance. And I do not think we can afford another T20 banger in the side (even ignoring his deplorable keeping). So Ballance may just be the least worst option. Not a great endorsement but that is the consequence of not taking Bell on tour.
Jos is more than. T/20 banger! He’s a highly skilled superstar.
I’m a Kent supporter. I love seeing Sam Billings bat. But to send for him as some sort of a ‘knight in shining armour’ to save England is both ridiculous and unfair, however highly regarded its proponent is. (Sam averages just 33 in first class cricket at the moment).
If you want a better option I’d have gone for James Hildreth, or, if he’s regarded as too old, then Sam Northeast.
Absolutely, you can’t do that with a debutant. Disappointing tripe from Vaughan, who was an excellent captain and man-manager and should know better.
Exactly. Vaughan is past his sell by date. So annoying on test match special.
This test was (to my mind) largely lost in the final session of Day 2. No way was it an 80/5 pitch then. There were a few silly dismissals (Hameed run out, Root trying to hit Ashwin out of the ground), Duckett not having worked out how to play offspin (partly because he never faces it in County Cricket). The last issue hasn’t been solved, but (in the absence of a sensible alternative: hello selectors), I’m almost inclined to give Duckett, a talented player, another go. However, he clearly needs to do some work in the meantime.
Cook obviously has no faith in Ansari, so probably drop him for Woakes, or possibly Tredwell. However, looking at the last test played in Mohali (vs South Africa, just over a year ago), Indian spinners took 19 of the 20 SA wickets, and the SA spinners (including Dean Elgar as a spinner for this purpose) took 15 of the 20 Indian wickets, so don’t bet on a seaming wicket.
Arguably you could drop Duckett for Woakes, bat him at 7 – he’ll probably make more runs than either Duckett or Buttler!
Just by the way, Cook said that Ansari was ill and vomited on the field and also that he had a back problem. That was why he hardly used him.
I saw that after I wrote my comment, but you’re right, it needs recording. I think on that basis (and looking at the last Mohali test, and the likelihood of Broad being out), I think Ansari stays in.
Ravi Shastri admitted on the TV coverage this morning that that pitch against SA was requested by him. This appears to be acceptable in cricket now (not that England can complain after the Strauss email during the Ashes). Shastri also said that because the Test is earlier in the season than usual it will probably be slower than normal.
Duckett is a real 50/50 for me, on the one hand he has only had 7 innings which you wouldn’t have thought was enough for judgement but the issues he is having with spin are cause for concern. With these Test matches coming in such a short space of time I am not sure how he can rectify it overnight. On the Surface I am a fan of the 7 Test Policy but is it working? Would Vince has sunk so low in the pecking order if England had just admitted after 4 Tests that he had a problem with drive selection
I agree they have left themselves short by bringing Ballance, I have been a fan for a number of years but he was lucky to get a recall and looking at his year in general it isn’t good enough.
Buttler on the other hand has no record to mention, he played one match for Lancs where he was involved in a collapse he couldn’t stop then was sent in as a pinch hitting opener in the second innings. I do sense the management are keen to get him in the side as some point so why not now? If he succeeds there is another problem with burnout looking at the English summer. Could the white ball focus lead to him being rested from Test matches?
Personally I wouldn’t take the gloves off Bairstow, he keeping this series especially to the spinners had been excellent. The stumping yesterday barely got a mention but it was excellent work
So if Duckett is taken out of the firing line I would shut Moeen to 4, Stokes to 5, Buttler in at 6 and YJB at 7.
My guess is that we will see something akin to this. They are clearly keen to get Buttler into the test side. In my opinion he would make a better captain than Root, who is apparently In no hurry to take on the job. For what it’s worth, he has my full support in that!
Hi Jenny. We’ve all assumed in the past that the management were desperate to get Buttler into the test side but I’m having some doubts about this now. After all, if they were that keen to get him in there, why did they pick both Ballance (who didn’t convince last summer) and Duckett ahead of him. Hmmmmm.
Given his limited exposure to the red ball and lack of significant success, (!) I guess they had plans to get him some net practice and coaching before slotting him into the side, if the need arose. I’m sure he was in the squad for reasons other than the reserve keeper role. But then, I’m a fan so who knows!
Trying Moeen Ali at 4 at least helps him along the way to completing the set: he has already batted in Tests at positions 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.
The lack of reliable specialist batsman is coming back to haunt England. They probably wanted to ease Hameed into test cricket but such was the unsuitability of both Duckett and Ballance respectively at this moment in time it is hard to know how they can shape this.
I certainly wouldn’t want Buttler at no.4, I would want Bairstow, whom I think can genuinely be an upper order specialist batsman, but longer term I can’t see him continuing with the gloves and achieve that. Alec Stewart significantly underachieved in the dual role as a batsman compared to his obvious ability as an upper order batsman alone. He averaged nearly 47 (without gloves) in an era which in my opinion would be worth several runs more today given the bowling attacks of the ’90.
Alec Stewart was awesome when he played as a pure opening batsman. Brilliant player of pace bowling (although not quite so good against the spinners). Completely agree that the bowling he had to face was a lot more testing than the guys playing today. I saw Stewart absolutely dominate guys like Ambrose, Walsh and Donald in his pomp. He was a brilliant player of fast bowling.
I would drop Duckett (as a matter of enough being enough, and keeping him in with no perceptible defence is cruel), bring back Woakes. Moeen goes up to four, etc. Otherwise no changes unless Ansari still unfit – the reason for him not bowling again after the first morning, after a perfectly decent spell, seems to have been a back injury. If Cook has lost faith in him after those twelve overs, having brought him on first, it is a very odd mental process.
I think you are being incredibly harsh on Buttler, James.
While it is true that he has played just one first-class match since being dropped from the Test team 13 months or so ago, that was a county championship match when he opened the second innings in a mad-dog run chase. As his 187 strike rate suggests, he was batting in T20 mode. You have concluded from this and, particularly, his year-long absence from red-ball cricket that Buttler has not improved his technique since he was dropped, which is an extrapolation that simply cannot be made on the evidence available.
There is little to choose between the first-class averages of Buttler and, say, Billings and Foakes, and it is worth taking a closer look at Buttler’s Test record. He only played 15 Tests. Over the first eight, he averaged 52.66. Over the last seven, just 13.00. It is far too simplistic to write him off as a talent who failed to step up.
I have no idea what happened to his game after his first eight Tests. It more or less coincided with Peter Moores making way for Trevor Bayliss, but no conclusions can be drawn from that. I think Buttler became uncertain as to the role expected of him as a Test 7 or 8. He admitted at the time to being confused whether he should play his natural game or focus instead on not losing his wicket – as though those two propositions were somehow irreconcilable. In my view, his drop in Test form flowed from an uncertain mind set rather than any flaw in technique.
Whether Buttler has acquired some clarity of thought in this area remains to be seen. But he offers one quality that cannot be revealed by poring over statistics. The guy is touched with genius. And, while he is by no means the finished article, he brings star dust to a team and that makes him an easy pick, for me.
My take on Buttler would be that his batting decline was more a mixture of intense concentration on his glovework and coming up against better bowling. Sarfraz Ahmed is another keeper who started with an exceptional batting record but that declined as he has striven to improve his keeping. It’s difficult to put in that level of concentration and not suffer some mental burn-out. Buttler’s brain became very scrambled when batting (remember his tangles with DRS?). Also, his early runs were against India in England, WI and NZ – not the strongest attacks. His decline was against Australia and Pakistan (in UAE). I’d be very concerned that it was his defensive technique against spin that unraveled when that’s just what he’s going to need. Even more concerning was that it was round-the-wicket off-spin (Lyon) that most troubled him and he’s going to get a lot of that in India.
I still think that if the squad had been picked after the last round of CC matches Nick Gubbins would have been selected. Has there ever been an explanation why it was picked a week earlier?
Spoken like a true Somerset fan Tregaskis ;-)
I’ve got nothing against Buttler. I think he’s extraordinarily talented and he seems like a really good bloke. However, I’m down on his test prospects because I don’t think he moves his feet and his defensive method has always looked very insecure to me. I also think he might be vulnerable against the short ball from what I’ve seen.
I think Jos started well because his early tests were against Sri Lanka and India* at home … Alex Hales and Ballance also scored runs against this opposition because the bowling wasn’t much better than county standard. In fact, Ballance scored runs for fun that summer. Jos (and GB) were then ruthlessly exposed by the Australian quicks (and Jos against Pakistani) because their bowling was of genuine international quality.
I didn’t automatically assume that he hasn’t worked on his defensive technique (because of the lack of first class action) that’s simply what I’ve been told by a couple of people who watch England practice. One day cricket is his main priority from what I’ve heard from people I respect a great deal.
I hope I’m completely wrong by the way. I would love nothing more than to see Buttler dispatch Australia to all corners of the Gabba next winter. However, as I said above, I think the odds are against it. Doesn’t mean it won’t happen though! I can only give opinion based on what I’ve seen and heard.
* Ashwin has quite a poor record overseas and the attack they chose in that series looked toothless. England were in disarray but still won the series.
Just on Gubbins, he told the BBC that he didn’t feel he would be prepared for a tour of the subcontinent because he had never played their before as he hasn’t been involved with the Lions or the U19.
Its in an interview, probably still on the site they also interviewed Jennings
Absolutely correct. I saw that interview.
I notice that (to everyone’s surprise – not)England are “taking the positives” from this test. One that seems to have been missed is that England’s opening stand (50.2 overs) lasted longer than 4 of the last 8 Australian innings.
Send for Leach and Northeast.
Play next season’s county championship on uncovered pitches, otherwise our batsmen will never learn how to play the spinning ball.
A thoughtful analysis, as ever. I agree that Buttler’s mind was scrambled. You may be right that an intense desire to improve his glove work could have been at the root of it, though that would have been a pressure from the moment he won his first cap. If Buttler is picked, I’d imagine it would be as a specialist batsman.
Buttler clearly has a technique or an approach that works against spin in the white-ball game, though I accept he benefits from short-form fielding restrictions, too. I got the impression that his risk assessment and shot management was cluttered in Tests, whether to stick or twist if you like. His role in ODIs and T20s is much more clear cut. Moeen Ali suffered a similar mind muddle when he was batting eight in Tests.
I am a big fan of Buttler, so it is fair to say that my thoughts on him tend to pass through that filter!
Gubbins’s scores against Yorkshire in the last match of the season would surely have given the selectors a mighty nudge, though presumably, Hameed was pretty firmly entrenched in selectors’ thinking by then.
After 1 big loss, just bring in 5 new players
Are Australia turning to England in the 90s, Jeremy?
Selection for the next test depends on where the selectors are willing to go (although Chernobyl would be a good start);
If they are prepared to send for back up then it is a no brainer to bring in Bell for Duckett.
If they insist on using the current squad and want a similar balance then I would bring back Ballance for Duckett rather than Buttler. I know that sounds dreadful but at least Ballance has some technique (and we would avoid the comedy sight of Buttler keeping wicket). I would give either Duckett or Buttler 20-30 balls tops if the wicket spins.
If they are prepared to change the balance of the team, promote Bairstow to 4 and bring in Woakes at 7.
In any of the line ups Woakes comes back, in place of Broad or Ansari depending on fitness, or as a replacement for Duckett in the last option.
Jos Buttler is a perfectly adequate wicket keeper.
I must disagree. I have seen better keepers playing club cricket. I have a few tests of a keeper and the one they almost all pass is the ability to cleanly take outfield returns (even if they are less than perfect returns). Buttler regularly (several times per innings) fumbles them. I admire Buttler – but strictly as a white ball bat.
Woakes needs to come back in, one way or another. He has been one of England’s best players over the last year. If either Broad or Ansari can’t play then it’s a straight swap. If they’re both well then for me it’s Ansari to make way, unless we’re extremely confident that it’ll be a raging turner.
I can understand the objections but I really feel we need to give Duckett the entire series to find his feet (no pun intended…!). I think that once he gets in he’ll do serious damage and it will do his confidence a world of good. I like Buttler a lot but I’m honestly not convinced that he has the game to do much better in this situation, so for me we have potentially more to lose than to gain by switching.
My thoughts on the series so far – I think England have generally done pretty well but haven’t had the rub of the green so far. How successful they are in this series depends a great deal on whether they find a way to stop Kohli’s batting.
I agree Buttler’s mind got scrambled by playing Tests – between playing his natural game and playing like he thinks Test players are supposed to. His ODI and T20 form have recovered since being dropped from the Test side – but recalling him now, particularly in Indian conditions, might only undo all of that and undermine his confidence in all formats again.
Not seen enough of Billings in the red ball game to know whether he’d be an adequate replacement, but throwìng another newbie in at the deep end is a big risk. Hameed has taken to Test cricket like a duck to water but Duckett looks way out of his depth in these conditions. My preference would be to recall Bell, but think the selectors have already made up their minds his international career is over.
I agree mate. There is no way back for Bell. In English cricket we always seem to forget that you should always have a very good replacement lined up if you’re going to chuck a quality player on the scrap heap. None of the players we’ve tried to replace Bell with have looked anywhere near as good as them man himself. Sure Bell had faults but he was still an capable international batsman most sides would be grateful for. These guys don’t grow on trees.
You’re probably right. Recalling Bell (especially in the current situation) would be seen as losing face and admitting that he shouldn’t have been discarded in the first place. The powers that be would rather have the team continue to muddle through with gaping holes in the middle order than allow that to happen.
I do think Bell needed some time away after a decade in the front line. He didn’t have a great series in the UAE (though neither would I say it was disastrously terrible). Releasing him this summer allowed him to throw himself into the Warwickshire captaincy and I think the challenge and change of environment will have benefited him a lot.
However it’s said that form is temporary while class is permanent and to effectively end his Test career at only 33 (albeit without actually fronting up and saying that’s what they’d done – maybe that’s one tactical lesson learned post KP) was a huge miss step. As you say, players like that (and the experience they carry with them) don’t grow on trees. Perhaps he doesn’t have much of a career record in India, but neither did Broad until he took a few wickets in Visakhapatnam. At the moment I think it’s hard to argue that Bell wouldn’t bring a lot more to the table than Duckett, Ballance or (in terms of batting at no. 4) Buttler. It won’t happen though.
One final thought on Bell (which I forgot to include in my comment above). I wonder to what extent him now being a county captain actually diminishes his chances of a test recall?
Think about it. The discarded former Vice Captain would now be more accustomed to exercising leadership and (as a senior pro) would doubtless have opinions about field placings, bowling tactics, declaration timings etc. We couldn’t possibly have someone else feeling that their authority was in any way threatened, now could we?
I think we can reasonably conclude that the selectors (and possibly Cook and definitely Strauss) have been looking to shut the door on Bell ever since they realised he was not one of the KP haters. I have no time for KP but to hold Bells friendship against him in selection is deplorable.
I think that’s a unbelievably tenuous leap to try and continue the ‘they’re all out to get KP’ story, and there is absolutely zero evidence that having picked Bell for the best part of 2 years after KP ended, they suddenly decided to hold it against him.
I am a massive Bell fan, and he’s my favourite England batsman of the last 10 years, but I actually don’t think he really wants it any more, despite what he might say publicly.
At the end of the last Ashes, he was talking about taking a break to consider international retirement – once a player’s mind is in that place, I’m pretty sure their mind is almost made up. His form was pretty ordinary for his last dozen tests or so – he’d toured every winter for about 10 years – he was shot.
I have no time for Pietersen and believe it was right to drop him. Reopening that debate is definitely not my intention. However. Pietersen and Bell shared an agent and Bell was notable for his silence when all around him were criticising Pietersen. Ever since that episode there seemed to be a surfeit of ‘get Bell’ stories in the press which seemed to be coordinated. Obviously Bell would not be dropped until it could be justified and a reasonable replacement made a case for selection. My contention is simply that, having dropped him, those who have looked to cleanse the stables of any Pietersen connections would do anything to avoid his return. That they are the same people who mistreated Bell over the years (dropping him for Owais Shah and for the return of a past it Vaughan) means they would have had few qualms. I agree Bell’s form merited being dropped but class persists and can any sane case be made for taking Ballance on tour over Bell?
After the descent start by the openers to notch up over 70 on day four , did playing too cautiously on a breaking pitch, allowing the Indian spinners to get on top, trigger the dent to follow ? Perhaps, a little bit of aggression by England would have put India on the defensive and help Cook and Hameed to survive till end of day four.
I’ve heard that argument Sarath but we were going to chase the runs (India couldn’t lose) so I’m not sure a few boundaries would’ve put the bowlers under pressure much. Runs, in effect, didn’t matter. It was a difficult pitch to score on, but Cook / Hameed showed that survival on its own was possible on day 4.
I’m aware of what Kohli said after the game but he’s hardly likely to give England helpful advice. Whatever you said was probably mind games and England shouldn’t take any notice imho.
I agree with your view on Cook/Hameed James but do not think it applies to day 5. The batsmen we had left for the last day are temperamentally incapable (and in one case technically incapable) of batting long and defensively. In those circumstances a calculated gamble of going for the runs may have been the best course. You have to set tactics to match the circumstances and with Duckett, Stokes, Ali and Rashid to come – tell them to treat it as an ODI.
That’s a good point Andy but perhaps the truth lies somewhere in the middle? Although the middle-order certainly like to feel bat on ball, I have seen the likes of Moeen and Stokes get their heads down too. Maybe they went into their shells a little too much on this occasion? I guess it’s always important to stay positive – even if this is being positive in defence (!) and trying to rotate the strike etc. The latter is especially important against spinners who are trying to line a batsman up. Warne used to say that singles infuriated him more than boundaries as it ruined the ‘set up’ plans he was working on for individual batsmen.
Good points James. Negativity never wears well. Some balance would have been a better option.
Not sure that’s true Andy. Ali batted all day against Sri Lanka for a 100* to almost save a test, Root has batted long, as have Stokes and Bairstow. The only one that was never going to be up to it was Duckett.
If you look at their dismissals, Stokes got a pretty perfect off break, Root got a good ball and Ali got one that spat out of the rough. None of them played poor shots.
On a 5th day pitch anywhere, let alone India, it was going to take a bit of a miracle, not to mention a touch of good fortune to bat out 90 overs. They were never going to score 300 runs on the last day. The only chance England had was Cook being there for a part of day 5.
I think we are largely in agreement Hamish. I think Ali is the most improved player this year and certainly Root and Bairstow can bat long. I just do not think they are most likely to do so when adopting a defensive mindset (even more true of Stokes). Some players are more solid when playing their normal game (which given a required run rate of 3.5 per over would not have required over aggression).
A point on Switch Hit from George Dobell may be of interest to a Worcester fan – he said that Joe Clarke is very close to selection but the experience with Duckett may now make them reluctant to pick players from D2.
I think Joe Clarke is extremely gifted. I don’t like the sound of excluding all div 2 players though. That’s just daft. And Duckett may yet come good at some point in the next year. We haven’t even seen him play seam bowling yet. Plenty of England players had good careers despite not being particularly great players of spin (Alec Stewart and Robin Smith spring to mind).
Basically it would be a mistake to think Clarke would automatically have the same issues as Duckett. They’re different players, with different methods, and each player should be assessed on his merits. They just need to watch him close up and see if they think his technique is good enough.
Cook
Hameed
Gubbins
Root
Jennings
Stokes
Bairstow
Woakes
Ali
Broad
Anderson
Would be my xi going forward. Proper batting top 3, root in his best position, proper batter at 5 and stokes being hit and miss (hopefully match winning hit ) at six.. insurance at 7 and the rest I couldn’t care less batting wise as your top 7 should be all you need.